CHAPTER 7

STRATEGIC
ACTIONS:
STRATEGY
FORMULATION

PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook

The University of West Alabama
2007 Thomson/South-Western.
All rights reserved.

Acquisition and
Restructuring
Strategies
Strategic
Management

Seventh edition

Competitiveness and Globalization:

Concepts
Cases
Michael A. Hitt and
R. Duane
Ireland Robert E. Hoskisson

KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES
Studying this chapter should provide you with the strategic
management knowledge needed to:
1. Explain the popularity of acquisition strategies in firms competing in
the global economy.
2. Discuss reasons why firms use an acquisition strategy to achieve
strategic competitiveness.
3. Describe seven problems that work against developing a
competitive advantage using an acquisition strategy.
4. Name and describe attributes of effective acquisitions.
5. Define the restructuring strategy and distinguish among its
common forms.
6. Explain the short- and long-term outcomes of the different types of
restructuring strategies.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

72

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Takeovers:

What are the Differences?
Merger
Two firms agree to integrate their operations on a
relatively co-equal basis.

Acquisition
One firm buys a controlling, or 100% interest in another
firm with the intent of making the acquired firm a
subsidiary business within its portfolio.

Takeover
A special type of acquisition when the target firm did not
solicit the acquiring firms bid for outright ownership.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

73

FIGURE

7.1

Reasons for
Acquisitions and
Problems in
Achieving
Success

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

74

Reasons for Acquisitions

Learning and
developing
new capabilities

Reshaping firms
competitive scope

Increased
diversification

Increased
market power
Overcoming
entry barriers

Making an
Acquisition

Lower risk than

developing new
products

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

Cost of new
product
development

Increase speed
to market

75

Acquisitions: Increased Market Power

Factors increasing market power when:
There is the ability to sell goods or services above
competitive levels.
Costs of primary or support activities are below those
of competitors.
A firms size, resources and capabilities gives it a
superior ability to compete.

Acquisitions intended to increase market power

are subject to:
Regulatory review
Analysis by financial markets
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

76

Acquisitions: Increased Market Power

(contd)
Market power is increased by:
Horizontal acquisitions: other firms in the same
industry
Vertical acquisitions: suppliers or distributors of the
acquiring firm
Related acquisitions: firms in related industries

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

77

Market Power Acquisitions

Horizontal
Acquisition
s

Acquisition of a company in the

same industry in which the
acquiring firm competes increases
a firms market power by
exploiting:
Cost-based synergies
Revenue-based synergies
Acquisitions with similar
characteristics result in higher
performance than those with
dissimilar characteristics.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

78

Market Power Acquisitions (contd)

Horizontal
Acquisition
s
Vertical
Acquisition
s

Acquisition of a supplier or
distributor of one or more of the
firms goods or services
Increases a firms market
power by controlling additional
parts of the value chain.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

79

Market Power Acquisitions (contd)

Horizontal
Acquisition
s
Vertical
Acquisition
s
Related
Acquisition
s

Acquisition of a company in a
highly related industry
Because of the difficulty in
implementing synergy,
related acquisitions are often
difficult to implement.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

710

Acquisitions: Overcoming Entry Barriers

Entry Barriers
Factors associated with the market or with the firms
operating in it that increase the expense and difficulty
faced by new ventures trying to enter that market
Economies of scale
Differentiated products

Cross-Border Acquisitions
Acquisitions made between companies with
headquarters in different countries
Are often made to overcome entry barriers.
Can be difficult to negotiate and operate because of the
differences in foreign cultures.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

711

Acquisitions: Cost of New-Product

Development and Increased Speed to
Market
Internal development of new products is often
perceived as high-risk activity.
Acquisitions allow a firm to gain access to new and
current products that are new to the firm.
Returns are more predictable because of the acquired
firms experience with the products.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

712

Acquisitions: Lower Risk Compared to

Developing New Products
An acquisitions outcomes can be estimated
more easily and accurately than the outcomes of
an internal product development process.
Managers may view acquisitions as lowering risk
associated with internal ventures and R&D
investments.
Acquisitions may discourage or suppress innovation.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

713

Acquisitions: Increased Diversification

Using acquisitions to diversify a firm is the
quickest and easiest way to change its portfolio
of businesses.
Both related diversification and unrelated
diversification strategies can be implemented
through acquisitions.
The more related the acquired firm is to the
acquiring firm, the greater is the probability that
the acquisition will be successful.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

714

Acquisitions: Reshaping the Firms

Competitive Scope
An acquisition can:
Reduce the negative effect of an intense rivalry on a
firms financial performance.
Reduce a firms dependence on one or more products
or markets.

Reducing a companys dependence on specific

markets alters the firms competitive scope.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

715

Acquisitions: Learning and Developing

New Capabilities
An acquiring firm can gain capabilities that the
firm does not currently possess:
Special technological capability
A broader knowledge base
Reduced inertia

Firms should acquire other firms with different

but related and complementary capabilities in
order to build their own knowledge base.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

716

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success
Integration
difficulties
Inadequate
target evaluation

Too large

Managers
overly focused on
acquisitions

Too much
diversification

Problems
with
Acquisitions

Extraordinary debt

Inability to
achieve synergy

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

717

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Integration Difficulties
Integration challenges include:
Melding two disparate corporate cultures
Linking different financial and control systems
Building effective working relationships (particularly
when management styles differ)
Resolving problems regarding the status of the newly
acquired firms executives
Loss of key personnel weakens the acquired firms
capabilities and reduces its value
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

718

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Inadequate Evaluation of the
Target
Due Diligence
The process of evaluating a target firm for acquisition
Ineffective due diligence may result in paying an excessive
premium for the target company.

Evaluation requires examining:

Financing of the intended transaction
Differences in culture between the firms
Tax consequences of the transaction
Actions necessary to meld the two workforces
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

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Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Large or Extraordinary Debt
High debt (e.g., junk bonds) can:
Increase the likelihood of bankruptcy
Lead to a downgrade of the firms credit rating
Preclude investment in activities that contribute to the
firms long-term success such as:
Research and development
Human resource training
Marketing

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

720

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Inability to Achieve Synergy
Synergy
When assets are worth more when used in
conjunction with each other than when they are used
separately.
Firms experience transaction costs when they use
acquisition strategies to create synergy.
Firms tend to underestimate indirect costs when
evaluating a potential acquisition.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

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Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Inability to Achieve Synergy
(contd)
Private synergy
When the combination and integration of the acquiring
and acquired firms assets yields capabilities and core
competencies that could not be developed by
combining and integrating either firms assets with
another company.
Advantage: It is difficult for competitors to
understand and imitate.
Disadvantage: It is also difficult to create.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

722

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Too Much Diversification
Diversified firms must process more information
of greater diversity.
Increased operational scope created by diversification
may cause managers to rely too much on financial
rather than strategic controls to evaluate business
units performances.
Strategic focus shifts to short-term performance.
Acquisitions may become substitutes for innovation.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

723

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Managers Overly Focused on
Acquisitions
Managers invest substantial time and energy in
acquisition strategies in:
Searching for viable acquisition candidates.
Completing effective due-diligence processes.
Preparing for negotiations.
Managing the integration process after the acquisition
is completed.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

724

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Managers Overly Focused on
Acquisitions
Managers in target firms operate in a state of
virtual suspended animation during an
acquisition.
Executives may become hesitant to make decisions
with long-term consequences until negotiations have
been completed.
The acquisition process can create a short-term
perspective and a greater aversion to risk among
executives in the target firm.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

725

Problems in Achieving Acquisition

Success: Too Large
Additional costs of controls may exceed the
benefits of the economies of scale and additional
market power.
Larger size may lead to more bureaucratic
controls.
Formalized controls often lead to relatively rigid
and standardized managerial behavior.
The firm may produce less innovation.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

726

TABLE 7.1

Attributes of Successful Acquisitions

Attributes
1. Acquired firm has assets or resources that are complementary to the acquiring firms
core business
2. Acquisition is friendly
3. Acquiring firm conducts effective due diligence to select target firms and evaluate the
target firms health (financial, cultural, and human resources)
4. Acquiring firm has financial slack (cash or a favorable debt position)
5. Merged firm maintains low to moderate debt position
6. Acquiring firm has sustained and consistent emphasis on R&D and innovation
7. Acquiring firm manages change well and is flexible and adaptable
Results
1. High probability of synergy and competitive advantage by maintaining strengths
2. Faster and more effective integration and possibly lower premiums
3. Firms with strongest complementarities are acquired and overpayment is avoided
4. Financing (debt or equity) is easier and less costly to obtain
5. Lower financing cost, lower risk (e.g., of bankruptcy), and avoidance of trade-offs that
are associated with high debt
6. Maintain long-term competitive advantage in markets
7. Faster and more effective integration facilitates achievement of synergy

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

727

Effective Acquisition Strategies

Complementary
Assets /Resources

Buying firms with assets that meet

current needs to build competitiveness.

Friendly
Acquisitions

Friendly deals make integration go more

smoothly.

Careful Selection
Process

Deliberate evaluation and negotiations

are more likely to lead to easy
integration and building synergies.

Maintain Financial
Slack

Provide enough additional financial

resources so that profitable projects
would not be foregone.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

728

Attributes of Effective Acquisitions

Attributes

Results

Low-to-Moderate Merged firm maintains

financial flexibility
Debt
Sustain
Emphasis
on Innovation

Continue to invest in R&D

as part of the firms overall
strategy

Flexibility

Has experience at
managing change and is
flexible and adaptable

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

729

Restructuring
A strategy through which a firm changes its set
of businesses or financial structure.
Failure of an acquisition strategy often precedes a
restructuring strategy.
Restructuring may occur because of changes in the
external or internal environments.

Restructuring strategies:
Downsizing
Downscoping
Leveraged buyouts
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Types of Restructuring: Downsizing

A reduction in the number of a firms employees
and sometimes in the number of its operating
units.
May or may not change the composition of
businesses in the companys portfolio.

Typical reasons for downsizing:

Expectation of improved profitability from cost
reductions
Desire or necessity for more efficient operations

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

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Types of Restructuring: Downscoping

A divestiture, spin-off or other means of
eliminating businesses unrelated to a firms core
businesses.
A set of actions that causes a firm to strategically
refocus on its core businesses.
May be accompanied by downsizing, but not
eliminating key employees from its primary
businesses.
Smaller firm can be more effectively managed by the
top management team.

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

732

Restructuring: Leveraged Buyouts (LBO)

A restructuring strategy whereby a party buys all
of a firms assets in order to take the firm private.
Significant amounts of debt may be incurred to
finance the buyout.
Immediate sale of non-core assets to pare down debt.

Can correct for managerial mistakes

Managers making decisions that serve their own
interests rather than those of shareholders.

Can facilitate entrepreneurial efforts and

strategic growth.
2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

733

FIGURE

7.2

Restructuring and Outcomes

2007 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

734